This application claims priority of German Patent Application No. 102 39 076.2, filed Aug. 26, 2002.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a weatherseal assembly, especially for sealing a trim item arranged on a motor vehicle. The weatherseal assembly involves a body part and a weatherseal comprising a sealing portion and a fastening portion. The sealing portion is provided with a pivotable sealing lip and an abutment lip leading the sealing lip. When the abutment lip comes into contact with the body part the sealing lip is pivotable from a first portion into a second portion contacting the body part.
2. Background Art
One such weatherseal assembly reads from WO 01/87658 A1. This known weatherseal assembly serves to seal a powered automotive window from the door cavity accommodating the window. For this purpose the known weatherseal assembly is made up of a weatherseal secured to a flange of the door cavity facing the outer side of the vehicle, and an inner seal secured to a flange of the door cavity facing the vehicle passenger compartment. The inner seal comprises a pivotable sealing lip serving to seal a trim item arranged in the vehicle passenger compartment. In addition, the inner seal is provided with an abutment lip leading the sealing lip and projecting more or less orthoganally from the sealing lip. The abutment lip is arranged such that, when it is fitted, the trim item first comes into contact with the abutment lip. It is in this way that the abutment lip functions as a slaving member which urges the pivotable sealing lip into contact with the trim item to thus achieve sealing contact of the sealing lip with the trim item.
One disadvantage with this known weatherseal assembly is its lack of variability as regards fitting the trim item, since the abutment lip will only implement its function as a slaving member when the trim item is moved primarily orthogonally to the abutment lip. In addition, it has turned out to be unsatisfactory that the force with which the sealing lip is urged into contact with the trim item is insufficient.
The invention is based on the objective of sophisticating a weatherseal assembly of the aforementioned kind such that pivoting the sealing lip with a relatively high contact force is now achieved by simple ways and means.
The achievement of this objective for a weatherseal assembly having the aforementioned features as set forth in claim 1 is provided in accordance with the invention by the abutment lip now comprising a first leg and a second leg extending at an angle to the first leg in the first position. The first leg is connected at one end to the sealing lip and at the other end to the second leg. The second leg is deformable by the body part such that the first leg moves the sealing lip from the first position into the second position.
The weatherseal assembly in accordance with the invention is based on having discovered that configuring the abutment lip with a first leg and a second leg extending at an angle thereto now permits, as compared to prior art, a higher variability as regards fitting a body part, for instance, a trim item in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. The reason for this is mainly that a wanted pivoting movement of the sealing lip is now primarily caused by a deformation of the second leg whereas the first leg has mainly the function of a lever handling the force required. A deformation of the second leg is, as a rule, also possible when, for example, a trim item leads to the abutment lip inclined. On top of this, the deformation of the second leg produces a tractive force in the first leg resulting in a relatively high force of the sealing lip contacting, for instance, a trim item.
Advantageous aspects of the weatherseal assembly in accordance with the invention read from the claims 2 to 11.
Thus, it is of advantage when the first leg and the second leg form an acute angle. An acute angle of less than 90xc2x0 facilitates deformation of the second leg due to it then extending regularly inclined to the direction of the force exerted, for instance, by a trim item on the abutment lip. In this case, pivoting the sealing lip as wanted is even possible when, for instance, a trim item is moved practically parallel to the first leg in the direction of the abutment lip.
For a configuration in keeping with practical requirements it is furthermore of advantage to connect the sealing lip and/or the second leg to the fastening portion at a joining location. This joining location of the sealing lip to the fastening portion forms to advantage a fulcrum for the sealing lip. It is in this way that the sealing lip is pivoted about the fulcrum from the first position into the second position.
In another preferred embodiment of the weatherseal assembly in accordance with the invention sealing lip, first leg, second leg and fastening portion form a hollow chamber. The hollow chamber contributes towards a configuration closed to the exterior preventing foreign particles from becoming lodged between the first leg and second leg detrimenting the wanted deformation of the second leg and thus ensuring reliable contact of the sealing lip to, for instance, a trim item.
Preferably the sealing lip has a certain length and the first leg is connected to the sealing lip at a predefined spacing away from the fastening portion, this spacing preferably amounting to between 0.25% and 0.75% of the length of the sealing lip. Such a configuration has the advantage that the first leg is connected to the sealing lip at a location which ensures, for one thing, reliable pivoting of the sealing lip and, for another, a sufficient cross-sectional area of the sealing lip on, for instance, a trim item.
In another preferred embodiment of the weatherseal assembly in accordance with the invention the body part comprises a first portion which in the second position contacts the sealing lip and a second portion which in the second position contacts the first leg to achieve a functional decoupling effect. For this purpose it is additionally of advantage when the first portion and second portion of the trim item form preferably an acute angle.
To achieve reliable fastening of the weatherseal the fastening portion is advantageously configured with a roughly U-shaped cross-section and mounted on a flange preferably of a vehicle. Also contributing towards a reliable fastening is to expediently reinforce the fastening portion by a carrier, which is preferably made of metal. The carrier ensures adequate stiffness of the fastening portion and thus enables the weatherseal in another preferred embodiment of the weatherseal assembly in accordance with the invention to be made of an elastomeric material, preferably a thermoplastic elastomer or ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM). It is in this way that the weatherseal can be fabricated relatively simply and cost-effectively.